Book Spotlight: Love You Dead by Peter James

LOVE YOU DEAD tells the story of Jodie Bentley, an ugly duckling as a child, that has two dreams in life - to be beautiful and rich. She's achieved the first with a little help from a plastic surgeon and now she's working hard on the second. Her philosophy on money is simple: you can either earn it or marry it. Marrying is easy, it's getting rid of the husband afterwards that's harder, that takes real skill. But hey, practice makes perfect . . .

Detective Superintendent Roy Grace is feeling the pressure from his superiors, his previous case is still giving him sleepless nights, there have been major developments with his missing wife Sandy, and an old adversary is back. But worse than all of this, he now believes a Black Widow is operating in his city. One with a venomous mind . . . and venomous skills. Soon Grace comes to the frightening realization that he may have underestimated just how dangerous this woman is.


Series: Roy Grace (Book 12)
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: Pan Macmillan; Main Market Ed. edition (October 1, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 144725581X
ISBN-13: 978-1447255819

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Peter James is an international bestselling thriller writer. He is a New York Times bestseller
as well as having 11 consecutive Sunday Times No 1s and he is published in 37 languages. His DS Roy Grace crime novels have sold 18 million copies worldwide. Prior to becoming a full-time author he was responsible for 25 movies. In 1994 Penguin published his novel ‘Host' on two floppy discs as the world’s first electronic novel. His novels have won numerous awards most recently the coveted 2016 CWA Diamond Dagger for sustained excellence and he was publicly voted by WH Smith - Britain's biggest book selling chain - The Best Crime Author Of All Time. Visit him on YouTube: www.peterjames.com/youtube

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First Chapter Review: Dead Man's Time by Peter James

I featured the Detective Superintendent Roy Grace crime series earlier this month. Though books of this nature tend to be favorites of mine, I simply couldn't work this one into my schedule; so I agreed to a first chapter review of Dead Man's Time, which is the latest book in the series. I received the first two chapters from the author's publicist because they are each only one page.

BLURB:  In Dead Man's Time, the latest from international bestselling author Peter James, Roy Grace finds himself up against that most dangerous of all adversaries—a man with fury in his heart who has nothing to lose.

New York, 1922. Five-year-old Gavin Daly and his seven-year-old sister, Aileen, are boarding the SS Mauretania to Dublin—and safety. Their mother has been shot and their Irish mobster father abducted. Suddenly, a messenger hands Gavin a piece of paper on which are written four names and eleven numbers, a cryptic message that will haunt him all his life, and his father's pocket watch. As the ship sails, Gavin watches Manhattan fade into the dusk and makes a promise, that one day he will return and find his father.

Brighton, 2012. Detective Superintendent Roy Grace investigates a savage burglary in Brighton, in which an old lady is murdered and £10m of antiques have been taken, including a rare vintage watch. To Grace’s surprise, the antiques are unimportant to her family—it is the watch they want back. As his investigation probes deeper, he realizes he has kicked over a hornets nest of new and ancient hatreds. At its heart is one man, Gavin Daly, the dead woman’s ninety-five-year-old brother. He has a score to settle and a promise to keep—both of which lead to a murderous trail linking the antiques world of Brighton, the crime fraternity of Spain’s Marbella, and New York.

Roy Grace, in a race against the clock to stop another killing, has met his most dangerous adversary yet.

COVER: I've posted both. The first one is from the paperback version. The other is from the hardcover and Kindle versions. While the first one seems to capture the British coast, the other appears to focus on the watch and the race against time. While I like both covers, I much prefer the color scheme and overall look of the latter.

FIRST CHAPTER: Our story opens in Brooklyn in 1922. A young boy awaits his father's arrival at bedtime. They share the same routine they do every night, not knowing how things are about to change.

SECOND CHAPTER: Four drunk men with murder on their minds make their way down the cobblestone street.

KEEP READING: Yes, especially because I want to see how quickly the modern-day story is introduced. The first two chapters unfold the story taking place in New York in 1922, so I haven't met the main character yet. That can be risky when trying to connect a reader to the MC, but it's not unusual in mystery and crime fiction for the crime to come first and then the detective makes his way on the scene later.

I liked the tenderness of the first chapter's interaction between the boy and his father. It helps you to feel sorry for what you know is coming based upon the blurb. The only thing I didn't care for is the people aren't given names. The third person narrator calls them "the boy" and "the boy's father." Other than the pet names of "little guy" and "big guy" that they have for each other, they aren't identified. That's off-putting to me. Perhaps it's intentional, to make it seem like this could be a tender moment between any boy and his father; but I didn't care for it.

This looks like it will be a nail-biter.



Series: Detective Superintendent Roy Grace (Book 9)
Hardcover: 416 pages
Publisher: Minotaur Books (October 15, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1250030188
ISBN-13: 978-1250030184

I received the first two chapters of this novel from the author's publicist. This review contains my honest opinions, which I have not been compensated for in any way.

Series Spotlight: Roy Grace Detective Series by Peter James

Not Dead Yet (October 8, Minotaur Books, PB) the 8th novel in the Roy Grace crime series, follows Gaia, a Hollywood star leaving her home to shoot a movie on location in Brighton, England. Days before she is about to leave, an attempt is made on her life by an obsessed stalker. As the stalker is at large in Brighton, Roy Grace and his team find themselves in a desperate race against time to save Gaia's life from a maniac who will stop at nothing to kill her.

In Dead Man's Time (October 15, Minotaur Books, HC), the 9th novel in the Roy Grace series, Superintendent Detective Roy Grace finds himself up against the most dangerous adversary yet. The story begins in 1920s New York when a five year old boy and his sister are boarding a ship to Dublin after their mother was shot and their father abducted. The boy is suddenly handed a cryptic message that will haunt him all his life and his father's pocket watch when he vows that he will return to find his father. Almost 90 years later, Detective Grace investigates a burglary in Brighton where £10m of antiques and a rare vintage watch has been taken and soon finds himself in a murderous trail linking the antiques world of Brighton, the crime fraternity of Spain's Marbella, and New York.

Previous book in this series:

Dead Man's Grip
Dead Like You
Dead Tomorrow
Dead Man's Footsteps
Not Dead Enough
Looking Good Dead
Dead Simple

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Peter James is the #1 international bestselling author of the Roy Grace series.

An established film producer and scriptwriter, James lived in the U.S. for a number of years and produced films, including The Merchant Of Venice, starring Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons and Joseph Fiennes. A TV adaptation of the Roy Grace series is currently in development, with James overseeing all aspects, including scriptwriting. In 2009 James was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Brighton in recognition of his services to literature and the community. He is Patron of Crimestoppers in Sussex alongside Vera Lynn and in 2012 was made Patron of The Whitehawk Inn. In 2011 James became Chair of the Crime Writers’ Association. He has won many literary awards, including the publicly voted ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards People’s Bestseller Dagger in 2011 and was shortlisted for the Wellcome Trust Book Prize for Perfect People in 2012.

James’ novels have been translated into thirty-six languages and three have been turned into films. All of his novels reflect a deep interest in the world of the police, with whom he does in–depth research and has unprecedented access, as well as science, medicine and the paranormal. James divides his time between his homes in Notting Hill in London and near Brighton in Sussex.

Visit him online at www.peterjames.com